London: Days after Brendon McCullum was appointed head coach of the England Test side, Paul Collingwood is likely to beat off competition from former Australian cricketer Simon Katich and the women’s World Cup-winning team coach Matthew Mott to become the white-ball coach.
The new England men’s cricket managing director, Rob Key, is due to “make his decision on the position” soon, according to dailymail.co.uk.
With it being made known that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has decided to split the red and white-ball coaching roles, the report added that, “An appetite to appoint a home-grown candidate combined with a lofty global standing in limited-overs cricket should result in England plumping for Paul Collingwood as their new white-ball coach ahead of an Australian.”
Ashes debacle
Collingwood, 45, was interim coach of the England side when it toured the West Indies for the T20 and Test tours earlier this year. He was given interim charge as chief coach Chris Silverwood had stepped down following England’s debacle in the Ashes.
The report added that by handing Collingwood the coaching reins of the white-ball side, the ECB would “provide continuity”, given that the former England cricketer has been part of the coaching set-up for four years.
Done remarkably well
Unlike the Test side, which has won just one of its last 17 games, and triggered the move to bring in New Zealand’s McCullum as head coach for red-ball cricket, the white-ball teams have done remarkably well and currently sit second in both the ICC ODI and T20I rankings.
England reached the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup in the UAE last year before they were shown the door by New Zealand.
